Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG

"Encased" is a game with huge potential — albeit not fully realized. It lacks overall cohesion and polish, especially in terms of combat balance and system depth. Yet, it offers so many strong and memorable elements that my overall experience remained positive. I have not looked into the developers background, but according to Steam, this is their only project. If this is indeed their debut, they have my respect. "Encased" feels like an attempt to combine the best aspects of classic RPGs: the interface and turn-based combat mechanics are clearly inspired by "Divinity: Original Sin II", while the character progression and world exploration resemble "Fallout". Sure, Unity doesn't provide the same physics fidelity as "Divinity", but these borrowed ideas are implemented with care and thoughtfulness. The setting appears heavily influenced by Soviet science fiction — particularly "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatsky brothers. The Dome is a mysterious, isolated zone where the laws of physics are distorted and people develop paranormal abilities. Elements like the colored "Wing" hierarchy, the rehabilitation program for prisoners, and the one-way nature of entry into the zone all contribute to a dystopian world layered with social commentary. There's plenty of humor, Easter eggs, and tongue-in-cheek references scattered throughout the game. Crafting is present, though relatively shallow. Still, it's fun to watch weapon visuals and descriptions evolve as you apply upgrades. Combat, unfortunately, is the weakest link. Some weapon types feel outright obsolete. For instance, I found psionic gloves far more effective than most firearms — no need for ammo, no reloading, just instant and reliable attacks. Sure, certain enemies have immunities, but there's always a workaround. The world map encourages exploration: in addition to story locations, you'll encounter random events reminiscent of "Fallout". And beyond isometric travel and world navigation, there's a third layer: text-driven quests with multiple-choice outcomes, akin to what you'd see in "Space Rangers". The story? It's... average. It does't fail, but it also doesn't quite reach the narrative ambition it seems to aim for. The opening hours are rich with mystery and discovery, while the pacing noticeably drops toward the end. Still, despite its flaws, Encased left a good impression. It's not groundbreaking or flawless — but it has heart. And that alone makes it worth playing. The developers have earned my trust, and I'll be watching closely for whatever they create next.

Unfortunately, it ceased development thanks to the war, if I understand correctly.

I'm conflicted on Encased, but would ultimately recommend it (on a deep discount) and here's why: [h1]+The Good+[/h1] + Premise of the game is great and the first half of the game uses it masterfully. + [b]Lore[/b]. + RPG mechanics lifted from the classics of the genre, in both good and the bad. + Combat is good (Which is good since there is so much of it!). Best way to describe it is Wasteland 2 combat but without any of the faults W2 has. + The first half of the game is very good and made me invested enough to finish the game, easily one of the best CRPG experiences + Bugs I encountered (aside from foes) were very minor and went away with a restart, most commonly relating to inventory management and moving items with mouse. + Very good translation [h1]-The Bad-[/h1] - Inventory management designed by the Devil himself [b]>:([/b]. A "great" mix of Resident Evil, Wasteland 2 and Fallout - Companions are just damage soaks & DPS multipliers and lack almost any character, playing without companions is hard mode but won't impact the game much - Companions get in the way in tight spaces, often blocking objects you want to use/interact with - Weapon upgrade system doesn't feel good after the first few levels. - Latter half of the game is mainly fetch or courier tasks that require you to memorize where people are, made worse when those people move about on the map wasting time in load screens and wandering about map searching where exactly those people are. Worst one required 10+ loading screen transitions - Tying to previous one: slow movement speed wasting huge amount of time. Doubling or tripling character movement speed with console is recommended. - Skill checks in conversations happen only once requiring savescumming if you failed by small margin and for example smoking a cigarette or reading skill mag would let you pass - Sudden deaths on par with Sierra adventure games. Save often like the loading screen tips say - The ending is disappointing, not bad just disappointment Hopefully the [b]Bad[/b] didn't scare you away from this game, even with all that it's worth a play as the genre has so few good entries. Just as a sidenote 99% completion took about 65 hours

Excellent, and has surpassed my expectations greatly. I had this game on wishlist for a while, and at 3$ this is the best deal of the summer sale of 2025. Seriously, as far as Fallout clones, I've played plenty, and none delivered the depth, the amount of characters and skills that interact with the game world so well. The screenshots don't do justice to the game. It has partial voice narration, it has free-form exploration with events, you can play as one of 5 "wings/factions" in game, for a ton of replayability and faction-specific content. The drawback is that the combat is wonky, at least in the early levels, but after a while I got a hang of it. I still don't know what half of the game statistics do (there is a lot of them).

This is one of very few games that can be compared to Fallout 2. Its most important and impressive strength is the excellent world building and writing as well as its quest design. It is fascinating to explore the world, its factions, characters, locations and quests. Character creation, talents, perks, skills and so on work rather well. The complexity is comparable to Fallout and heavily inspired by it without being derivative. Quite a few quests use non-combat skills. Graphics are quite good for the genre and the music is serviceable to good. The same is true for the UI. It is not without problems, though. It has weaknesses both in its mechanics, its quality-of-life functions and its quest design. Those weaknesses are not nearly as important as its strengths, but some are noteworthy. The biggest problem is a decline in atmosphere in the last third or half of the game. The map is mostly an open world, but you can only visit about half of it until you advance the main story. The locations and quests you encounter in this first half are fantastic. That being said, the content that opens up later on is still quite good, but you visit some new areas that have been rushed and a small number that seem almost unfinished. Several quests in the second half fall short of their promise as well. The second biggest flaw is closely related. The companions are also unfinished. They show promise and start out with unique storylines, but the companion quests are missing almost completely – and it is clear that they were planned, there is even a category for them within the journal. This is unfortunate, but it is similar to the original Fallout games where several companions were mostly mules for equipment as well. The combat system is a mixed bag. It works well but it is not very complex. This was also true for Fallout 1 and 2 but those games are a lot older and they balanced it with excellent weapon progression. Encased offers a lot(!) of active skills for combat but it overburdens the player with all those symbols and skills which are mostly useless. The game tries to go for complexity by giving every enemies immunities and resistances against different types of damage, but this is just a bother and not in any way interesting. You need to right-click on the enemy to see the resistances and the choose a weapon with an appropriate damage type (or just the weapon you upgraded the furthest despite it not being optimal). The other problems are more akin to annoyances that will bother different players to a different degree. Examples are: you cannot easily leave an area; your inventory is slightly unruly; trading works, but stealing can be a bit bothersome; the power armor comes into play way too late.

Spoilers ahead. - The game is too slow for my liking, combat is fairly 1 dimensional & there's far too much looting required even when considering my trash panda ways. The story isn't gripping, the quests are extremely repetitive & involve you returning to POIs you've probably already fully explored just to sort a fetch quest or revisit a computer you've already used just to use it again for a different reason. This led to me getting bored and killing main characters/quest givers that gave terrible quests just to resolve them instantly a far quicker way (Shove those selectrones up your backside Nakamura) NPCs were forgettable. Companions were alright, neither here nor there for me. Survival elements were annoying more than anything else. For me the game is a 5/10, it just doesn't do anything well. Play Fallout 1/2 instead unironically.

Ok, so this is a not recommend. I bought this shortly after release, which was a bad move as it then turned out to not be properly finished, though technically there is an ending. Apparently the quality apparently plummets after the first act, and it switches from a character/story heavy game to a clunky and largely empty turn based combat game. I don't like unfinished products and stories so I was unmotivated to actually play it after I heard that. I eventually decided I may as well give it a go since I had purchased it. I was kind of enjoying it, the writing was decent and it had a little bit of fallout vibe crossed with Stalker thing going. Ok UI and and ok combat. But then I realised that looting the MANY MANY boxes gives you XP, and sometimes decent loot. That's a nope. Not only does it make no sense to earn xp from opening an unlocked box, but it is desperately boring to have to do it if there a lot of boxes. My OCD cannot let an unopened box that has value be ignored and I don't want to be bored either. I know, sound silly but that's a deal breaker for me. So, be aware that if you have this kind of issue this game is probably not a good one to get! If you like opening boxes though, go for it!

[h1]Encased: A Sci-Fi Post-Apocalyptic RPG – 100% Completion Review[/h1] [i]All achievements earned, every faction route completed, every ending unlocked, all secrets discovered[/i] [b]Encased is a spiritual successor to the isometric classics, built with reverence and loaded with systems, but weighed down by uneven execution.[/b] It draws from Fallout, Wasteland, and the early CRPG canon, but filters everything through its own Cold War-era sci-fi setting and existential weirdness. You begin as a new recruit under the Dome, a mysterious anomaly filled with pre-collapse tech, rival factions, and strange phenomena. The opening hours are rich in choice and flavor. Background traits and stats matter. Dialogue trees branch meaningfully. And from the start, you are deciding what kind of survivor you want to be. [b]Combat is functional but uninspired.[/b] Turn-based encounters rely on positioning and gear upgrades, but enemy AI is limited and encounter design lacks variety. Builds like energy weapons or stealth feel undercooked, and late-game difficulty depends more on numbers than tactics. [b]What completionists will appreciate is the branching structure and sheer depth of content.[/b] Multiple faction paths, secret zones, lore terminals, and character-specific resolutions make a full run feel worthwhile. Some side quests are throwaway, but others unlock entirely new subplots. Endings vary dramatically based on choices that may seem minor when made. Bugs, stiff animations, and pacing issues persist throughout. The first half is stronger than the second, and the final act feels rushed. [hr] [b]Encased is ambitious, dense, and often brilliant, but rough around the edges.[/b] For those willing to see everything, it becomes more than the sum of its parts. Not quite a modern classic, but absolutely worth completing if you miss old-school RPGs with teeth.

Great game! May be just too easy on the "difficult" mode.

I can't give any game a positive review with a realistic reenactment of the DMV.

Only three hours in so far, but I am enjoying it for sure.

Peak isometric Fallout vibes.

boring

fallout

Yes.